Maine election 2022: Roberts vs. Rouillard for House District 149 state rep.
Democratic state Rep. Tiffany Roberts is running in the 2022 election against Republican Mark Rouillard for the District 149 seat in the Maine House.
Tiffany Roberts
Hometown: South Berwick
The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade and placed the power to regulate abortion with the states. What should state lawmakers do regarding abortion laws?
A woman's right to choose is codified in Maine law, and it should remain so. When laws push abortion care out of reach, this undermines the economic security women need to raise happy, healthy families. I raised my children as a single mother and I know firsthand what it is to struggle every day to make sure my children were fed. Women know their own capabilities, and they should be trusted to make these decisions privately with their healthcare providers. As a legislator, my role is to represent my community and vote for legislation that will support women and families with things like paid leave, affordable childcare, and policies that ensure we have a business environment that provides good-paying jobs. I will strongly oppose any legislation that aims to restrict our current law.
The state's residents and businesses face many economic challenges, including high prices for electricity and fuel, a labor shortage, a lack of affordable housing and rising prices due to inflation. How would you address these challenges?
In the last legislative session, we demonstrated what can happen when we come together with bipartisan common-sense solutions. The economics of inflation and rising costs are majorly driven by forces outside of the state, but as legislators, we do have the ability to help Mainers offset rising costs with actions like property tax relief and prescription drug cost relief for seniors. Specifically for heating costs, there is the Home Energy Assistance Program. These are policy decisions that we made that have a real impact. We need to continuously look for ways like these to ease the economic burden on Mainers. There is still more work to be done to address the lack of affordable housing in Maine. Making sure the building industry is at the table is going to make an impact on finding common-sense solutions. Adopting building codes that ensure homes are built safely without creating overly burdensome mandates is critical. The Maine Legislature can't control lumber prices and labor wages, but we can look at things like requiring fire sprinklers in all new construction homes, just as an example. We can ask, is there a problem with fires happening in new construction homes that required fire sprinklers can fix? I don't know the data on home fires, but my approach is to ask questions before making blanket requirements that will have a dramatic impact on the cost of a home.
What else do you want voters to know about you or your policy positions before the election on Nov. 8?
Supporting Maine farmers and fishermen who help us build a reliable, locally based agriculture economy is something that is very important to me. Supporting a healthy business environment throughout the state and close to home is important to me. In my work as chair of the IDEA committee, we took steps to make it easier to work in Maine. I put forth a bill that made it possible for people holding licenses outside of the state, electricians, for example, to easily obtain Maine credentials to join the workforce here. We also funded a veterinarian and nurse educator loan repayment plan to attract professionals who are working in these fields to join the Maine workforce. Student debt is an obstacle for workers. We should continue to look at incentives that are in place and how they can be modified to encourage people to live and work in Maine. This includes providing a livable wage and access to affordable quality childcare. More than half of the Maine workforce is employed by a small business owner. More and more, it is very difficult for small business owners to offer comparable compensation packages or benefits, such as work-from-home flexibility, that an employee could find at larger or more national companies. What we can do in the Maine Legislature is help facilitate incentives or programs, like the Maine Retirement Savings Program, that help level the playing field for small business owners. I have been and will continue to be, a voice for my community.
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Maine election 2022: Roberts vs. Rouillard for House District 149 state rep.
